I am often saddened to see Korea's poor dogs tied up on a two foot leash for their entire existence. I just don't understand how anyone with a conscience can think that is acceptable. Why have a dog - a living, feeling creature with emotional, social and physical needs - then tie it up outside for its entire existence. I just don't get it. There is a dog tied up outside my villa. I buy it a can of tuna now and then, and give it some leftover meat from my fridge / dinner etc.. Recently I have been taking my leftovers from the local 'chicken hof' - and he loves it. Even if it's just the bones with a bit of meat on it he gobbles them down and looks for more. He's very grateful and gets excited whenever he hears me approaching. And all he's expecting is crunchy chicken bones.

If you are also moved by the conditions of the neglected dogs in your neighborhood please try to remember 'small kindnesses'. It's a very small thing to us, but it's greatly appreciated by the poor dogs. In this cold weather they can't even move about to stay warm, and more often than not they are fed dry pebbles for food. If you're at a restaurant tonight (or any night) and you've some leftovers, think of the poor dog tied up on your route home. Why have the leftovers thrown into the trash when there are hungry, cold neglected dogs here everywhere one looks.

Also, if you're at the supermarket and you've an extra 2000 won to spare grab some cheap packaged meat product or a can of tuna and give the poor fella a treat. It costs us nothing, but it makes a big difference to them.

I'd be pissed if I was the owner. You don't give chicken bones to a dog. They break easy and can get stuck in their throat and rip them. Don't be giving dogs anything if you don't know how to treat them right either.

I think the lesson is that there things someone does that makes them feel better involving another person or creature and there are things that someone does involving another person or creature that actually improves that other creature's condition.

Basically it's like buying a starving 3rd world child some McDonald's- Their system is probably not used to the food, they'll get diarrhea and end up in even worse physical shape.

But hey, at least you've done something and can feel better about yourself!

Also, if you're at the supermarket and you've an extra 2000 won to spare grab some cheap packaged meat product or a can of tuna and give the poor fella a treat. It costs us nothing, but it makes a big difference to them..

1) it doesn't cost us nothing, it costs us w2000, you said it yourself. save that for 2 days and I can get a beer!
2) if i have a can of dog can i give it to the tuna?
3) define 'big difference'. Has the dog told you he was going to throw in the towel until you came along?

small acts of kindness or almost always selfishly motivated. that's why they are small. just enough to relieve your guilt.

I'm astonished and saddened by the responses to my OP. So far this thread has had 190 hits. Hopefully some readers are assisting Korea's poor abused dogs. I despair to think that the people posting so far are representative of the foreigner community here on Daves.

Across the board, veterinarians agree that feeding a dog cooked bones can threaten his health. Cooked bones pose a particular threat because the bone hardens, causing the bone to splinter or shatter easily. When a dog chews on a chicken bone, he may break or splinter the bone. These razor sharp bone pieces when ingested can puncture the insides. In 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a reminder that dog owners should toss all bones before giving them to pets, says an AP article.

It is COOKED chicken bones that are the danger here. In the wild there aren't that many cooked chicken bones.

OP please stop giving that poor dog chicken bones. Tuna and other meat products may be fine...but no processed lunch meats...if the dog is not used to them it can mess severely with his digestive system.

you dont give a dog soft bones. Give the dog rib bones or just dont mess with other peoples property.

This is the problem with Korea. A dog is not a person's "property" in the same sense that a sofa is. You can't just tie it up and leave it. We have a moral obligation to treat it well. The original poster should be commended for her / his efforts. Maybe giving bones isn't the best thing, but one can help out with other food stuffs. The spirit of the post is decent. To say 'bah, forget the Korean dogs' or 'don't mess with other people's property' is messed up. Back home people are educated to respect animals' rights. We also have the Humane Society to which we can report abusive and neglectful owners. Not so in Korea. It is far, far behind in this regard.

If you don't want to give dogs bones then take the remaining meat off and give them that. It's not rocket science.

My point is someone ranting about mistreatment of something only to be doing the same thing. If you want to help, learn the proper way and make sure it is helpful and not just inflating your ego.

This is emphatically not about me. This is about helping the dogs. Maybe I shouldn't give bones to the dog. I have never owned a dog so I don't object to being corrected. Although I have always been very (very) careful about which bones I give the dogs, I will stop doing this altogether. But as I said, I also give it other food and I am advocating that readers spare 2000 won here and there to buy something for the dogs. This thread is simply about doing right by neglected animals. I only hope that for every jerk that posts cynically or negatively on this thread there's another who'll toss a bit of meat to a local dog once in a while, or stop and show it some affection. All I'm advocating is random acts of kindness towards those who can't help themselves. In this case Korea's dogs.